Google's New Datally App Can Save You Serious Cash

Google has launched a new app that aims at helping you save money by stopping apps from wasting your precious cellular data.

The new app, called Datally, is available now in the Google Play marketplace. Once installed, the app conducts an audit on the apps you're running on your smartphone to find out what kind of data they're consuming. From there, you can decide on an app-by-app basis how much data they should consume.

Aside from that, Datally features a Data Saver Bubble feature that lets you data usage in real-time. You can also use the bubble to block an app from consuming data.

Of course, carriers have been making strides in getting customers to sign up for unlimited data plans. But if you're in a plan that charges you based on the amount of data you use, Datally could come in handy. It'll help you see which apps are running at any given time, and find out how much data they're using. And Google argues that the ability to turn off app data usage or ratchet it back could save you a hefty sum.

In fact, Google's own analysis found that you can save "up to 30 percent of mobile data" by using Datally.

It's also worth noting that many of the features Datally offers are already built into Android. For instance, you can access features built into Android that will tell you how apps are using data. You can also turn them off. But since those features are buried in the settings menu, Datally makes it easier to control your data usage.

According to The Verge, which earlier reported on Datally's launch, Google released the app for the Google Next Billion Users initiative. Google's Next Billion Users is a program aimed at getting people in emerging markets around the world access to the Web. Those areas also have limited connectivity and data availability, making an app like Datally even more important.

But Google's decision to release it to all users, including those in developed countries, suggests the company believes it can help people in those markets save some cash, too.